Williams praises South Western officers for reduction in crime

As he gears up to take office on Tuesday, soon-to-be acting Commissoner of Police Stephen Williams yesterday hailed the South Western Police Division as a success after it has managed to reduced crime within its districts by 20 per cent. Williams made the statement yesterday after a tour with acting Prime Minister Jack Warner and other officials of the Moruga, La Brea and Oropouche police stations which are among eight police stations earmarked for reconstruction.

The stations are part of a $291 million programme to rebuild much-needed police stations. Williams welcomed the move by the National Security Minister to expedite the construction of the stations. “On behalf of the officers, I would like to say how pleased we are with the level of urgency that the construction of police (stations) is being pursued,” he said. “We visited the respective locations that (officers) have been highlighting, the extremely challenging conditions under which they operate.

“There is now some level of hope for them that construction of these buildings will be taking place at a pace to provide them with an opportuntiy to have better accommodation from which they can operate,” Williams said. He highlighted the success of crime management within the South Western Division, which he said, has registered a 20 per cent reduction. “For 2012, South Western Division is the division with the greatest level of success in crime reduction,” he said.

“We have realised a 20 per cent reduction in crime in South Western Division over the period in 2011 and that is something that has to be based on the co-operation of the public and the partnership they would have forged with the police officers but also the excellent work that the officers in South Western Division are doing at this time.”

Williams, speaking with reporters outside Lystra’s Diner, Avocat Junction, Fyzabad, threw his full support behind his troops in ongoing salary negotiations with the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO). On Friday, members of the general council of the Police Social and Welfare Association voted in favour of having their negotiations for salary increases settled by the Industrial Court after they rejected the Government’s offer of a nine per cent increase. The vote, which was taken by the general council, found that 110 people agreed to have the settlement determined by the Industrial Court, while 96 officers voted in favour of accepting a proposed nine per cent increase.

Williams, a former association president, declined to make any pronouncement on the negotiations since, he said, that was an issue between the representative association and the CPO. However, he said: “They do have my support.” Williams, who will officially assume the reins of the Police Service on Tuesday, after the resignations of Commissioner Dwayne Gibbs and Deputy CoP Jack Ewatski last month, said he has a number of plans he would like to put in place to fight crime.

However, he declined to share them since he is yet to meet with the executive arm of the Police Service. “It would be bad for me to go public with my plans without the executive hearing about those plans,” he said. “So I would first want to meet with them and share some of my plans and take on board their views, their suggestions and their recommendations before I go public with those plans,” he said.